01 Oct

Sierra de Grazelema Natural Park and a luxury villa in Andalucia, Llanama

Sierra de Grazelema Natural Park and luxury villa in Llanama – Andalucia at its most inspiring!

What has been cited by several revered travel writer’s a being one of ‘Spain’s most ecologically outstanding areas’, the Sierra de Grazelema was given the status of being Andalucia’s first natural park. This area of thoroughly breathtaking beauty was given the honour in 1984 and since a whole string of beautiful Andalucian sierras have been honoured with the similar status.

This almost 60,000 hectare park is a mouth-watering maze of gorges, caves, gullies and rugged limestone cliffs. In fact, it is within this utterly impressive natural park where Andalucia’s largest cave system can be found, that includes the Hundidero-Gato, a colossal grotto of four kilometres in length.

Unlike many of the drier and ‘desertscape’ areas Andalucia is typically known for, the Sierra de Grazelema Natural Park flourishes with Mediterranean plant life, providing the perfect habitat for an exceptional myriad of flora and fauna including a griffon vulture colony that keeps a watchful eye over the sierras from its home at the peak of the Garganta Verde gorge.

Such a lush, fertile, verdurous and ecologically thriving landscape usually signifies one thing – rain! It has to be said that the Grazelema Natural Park is one of the wettest places in Spain, but set within a landscape as arid and parched as much of Andalucia, comes as a refreshing change.

If witnessing rare and spectacular wildlife, scenery that would give Switzerland a run for its money, being a stone’s throw from the azure waters of Lake Zahara, being within easy reach of the quintessentially Andalucian whitewashed pueblo of El Gastor, with the Spanish ‘must see’ town of Ronda slightly further a field, and the unsurpassable city of Seville within reach, sounds like a pretty impressive holiday, you may be interested in staying at the Vintage Travel luxury villa in Andalucia, Llanama (pictured).

This four bedroom, two bathroom villa can accommodate up to eight guests. Being set within a rural utopia of olive groves and meadows and boasting astounding views of the Grazelema Natural Park and Lake Zahara, guests cannot fail to be overwhelmed by the natural beauty of Llanama’s surroundings.

In keeping with the devout natural beauty of the area, Llanama’s interior includes chestnut wooden beams, areas of exposed stone and many other traditional and natural delights the area proudly insists in maintaining. The exterior of Llanama is equally as desirable, it’s spacious grounds comprising of a grand private pool, a private floodlit tennis court, a basketball court and children’s swings.

With the autumnal colours casting a vibrant hue across the Grazelema Natural Park, November can be an exceptionally beautiful time to visit the park, which being out of season, a week’s rental of Llanama costs just £695 a week.